Man Confesses to Fatal Stabbing in Odessa

2010-06-23T00:13:39Z2010-06-23T00:59:15Z

By Victor Lopez NewsWest 9

ODESSA--One man is dead and another in police custody after a stabbing Monday night in Odessa. Police say the suspect has confessed to the crime, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions. NewsWest 9 went looking for answers.

The best place to find answers is to go straight to the source. In this case, the apartments where the stabbing happened. NewsWest 9 found an eyewitness to the crime and was first on the scene to speak to him about what went down, inside his own apartment.

47-year-old Joseph Fischer says he still can't believe what happened in his apartment on Monday night, "He came in the door and he stabbed him the chest and said, I'm going to kill you, Satan. Then, I saw Tony stumble around and he collapsed. He died on the floor, right here in front of me. My friend was sitting there, in the chair, and we were joking. He was talking about Uncle Sam, he was making a joke to me. I couldn't believe it. I don't know how to explain it. I've never seen anybody die before. It's an experience I don't wish on no body," Fischer said.

Fischer was friends with both the suspect, James Williams and the victim, Antonio Villa.

He described Villa as a good person with a good heart who would do anything for anybody in need.

Williams and Villa were also friends, but had a few problems in the past. Fischer says both men had been drinking on Monday night. Things just came to a head when Williams lost control.

"When he was straight, he had a heart of gold. He would do anything for people. But when he got drunk, he was a different person," Fischer explained.

Fischer says he had a previous run in with Williams before, over a girl, "He got real jealous of me being around her. He came hitting the door with a bat and broke out my windows. That was about 3 weeks ago."

According to Fischer, he and the two men are clients at MHMR.

He says people should listen to their hearts more often, "I think, some of us mental patients get away with too much, sometimes. I really think, sometimes people know they need help, they know they shouldn't do something. They should go by their hearts."

Now, Fischer feels the loss in two ways.

"Tony, he became my best friend. I cared about James. It was a friend hurting a friend," Fischer said.

Police say, Williams admitted to stabbing Villa, after he was arrested. He's charged with first degree murder and is being held at the Ector County Detention Center on a $250,000 bond.